"Musk did not accuse diver of pedophilia when he called him pedo"

2019-09-17T10:11:21.408Z

Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not accuse British diver Vernon Unsworth of pedophilia when he called the diver on Twitter a "pedo guy", Musk's lawyers say Monday. The Tesla CEO was charged with defamation for the Twitter message.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not accuse British diver Vernon Unsworth of pedophilia when he called the diver on Twitter a " pedo guy ", Musk's lawyers say Monday. The Tesla CEO was charged with defamation for the Twitter message.

According to Musk's lawyers, pedo guy is an ordinary insult that occurs more often in South Africa, the country in which the chief grew up. The tweet was therefore intended as an insult and not to accuse someone of pedophilia, the lawyers argue.

The tweet from Musk came as a result of a rescue operation by a Thai football team from a cave last summer. In the rescue operation, twelve Thai football players and their coach were rescued from a cave after seventeen days.

During the operation, the Tesla foreman said he was busy developing a very small submarine. According to him, that submarine could have saved the boys from the cave. Diver Unsworth then reacted critically and called the small submarine "a stunt" and added that Musk "had to stop the boat somewhere where it hurt."

After the tweet in which Musk called the diver a " pedo guy, " he e- mailed BuzzFeed to delve deeper into this accusation and called the diver a "child abuser."